Thousands attend funeral for Hezbollah figure killed in air strike

Thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah gather in the southern suburbs of Beirut to bury the son of their late military leader, who was killed in an air strike in Syria. Mana Rabiee reports.

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In the southern suburbs of Beirut, thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah gather to bury one of their own.
He was Jihad Moughniyah, the 26-year-old son of Hezbollah's late military leader.
Hezbollah says he died along with five other Hezbollah figures when an Israeli helicopter attacked their convoy in Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The son was buried in the same cemetery as his father, Imad Moughniyah, who was himself killed in 2008 -- Hezbollah believes in an Israeli assassination.
Residents here praise both father and son.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF HEZBOLLAH CENTRAL COMMITTEE, MOHAMED SAEED AL-KHANSA, SAYING:
''The people of this region are proud of his martyrdom and believe that they are on the right path in the fight against the Zionist enemy, and that our region has a very clear compass and direction when fighting the enemy.''
It's not immediately clear what role the younger Moughniyah played in the fighting in Syria.
The attack comes just days after Hezbollah's current leader said Israeli strikes in Syria are an aggression and that Syria's allies -- which include Hezbollah -- have a right to respond.
A newspaper columnist here thinks the strike is in direct response to those comments but, either way, the strike was a major blow to Hezbollah and it could lead to reprisal attacks.

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